Hello Everyone!
About 5 weeks ago, we took in 2 cats for an acquaintance of a friend who was in the middle of moving and weren't able to care for them. Both cats are super friendly and cuddly. It was an unexpected thing, we didn't really have the money to, but the guy was going to drop the cats outside somewhere in -10 weather and we figured it was better if we took them, started taking care of them and then get the vet situation settled. We got the boy caught up on his vaccinations and had him neutered immediately as unfixed animals really aren't our thing, and were planning on taking the girl in a little later just to get all checked out. We were told that the female was up to date on all her vaccinations and had been spayed and that she had never been pregnant, so weren't too concerned about her. They were both underweight and had not been taken care of very well. We put them on Eukaneuba, and they both started to eat and gain weight (they had been fighting over food, and are just now realizing that there will always be food, so there is no need to fight over it), At first I thought she was gaining weight because she is eating both an appropriate amount as well as better food, but about 2 weeks ago she started looking huge. Well, they lied, as she's pregnant. Very very pregnant, she looks like she literally swallowed a softball. We have no idea when she would have mated, and it's difficult to go by when she started showing as she was quite underweight.
Up until the past couple of days, she had been fine with our 12 year old German Shepard/Lab mix. She didn't exactly love him, but she was tolerant (the boy cat will covertly cuddle with the dog when he thinks we aren't looking
). Our dog has been around cats all his life, and for the most part ignores them. She has been getting progressively more aggressive towards him over the past few days, to the point that she ran at him from the kitchen and I had to pull her off of him this morning (it was completely unprovoked, as he was laying at my feet in the living room, sleeping).
I've had cats all my life, so am pretty well versed in normal cat behavior, but I did do quite a bit of research about pregnant cats as I've never been around them and didn't know what to expect. I have seen many mentions of cats becoming aggressive after birthing, but not much prior to birth. Is it possible that she is nearing labor, could that explain her behavior change?
I've set up a birthing box with lots of towels, and sprayed it down with catnip for good measure in her favorite hiding spot, the bottom shelf of our towel storage in the bathroom, and she has started laying in there. Currently, she and the boy cat are playing and chasing each other around the house, so it's not a *complete* change of behavior, it's just aggression towards the dog. I'm not sure what to do, we have not been rewarding aggressive behavior by trying to calm her down with petting and soothing voices, etc. We HAVE been trying to startle her to redirect her attention or use a spray bottle, which has been effective, up until the past couple of days. We haven't been physically touching her when she's mean towards the dog, except for this morning to pull her off. Putting her in another room isn't working, as she is a master escape artist (I seriously have no idea how she gets out of the bathroom!!). Any and all recommendations or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you so much in advance!
About 5 weeks ago, we took in 2 cats for an acquaintance of a friend who was in the middle of moving and weren't able to care for them. Both cats are super friendly and cuddly. It was an unexpected thing, we didn't really have the money to, but the guy was going to drop the cats outside somewhere in -10 weather and we figured it was better if we took them, started taking care of them and then get the vet situation settled. We got the boy caught up on his vaccinations and had him neutered immediately as unfixed animals really aren't our thing, and were planning on taking the girl in a little later just to get all checked out. We were told that the female was up to date on all her vaccinations and had been spayed and that she had never been pregnant, so weren't too concerned about her. They were both underweight and had not been taken care of very well. We put them on Eukaneuba, and they both started to eat and gain weight (they had been fighting over food, and are just now realizing that there will always be food, so there is no need to fight over it), At first I thought she was gaining weight because she is eating both an appropriate amount as well as better food, but about 2 weeks ago she started looking huge. Well, they lied, as she's pregnant. Very very pregnant, she looks like she literally swallowed a softball. We have no idea when she would have mated, and it's difficult to go by when she started showing as she was quite underweight.
Up until the past couple of days, she had been fine with our 12 year old German Shepard/Lab mix. She didn't exactly love him, but she was tolerant (the boy cat will covertly cuddle with the dog when he thinks we aren't looking
). Our dog has been around cats all his life, and for the most part ignores them. She has been getting progressively more aggressive towards him over the past few days, to the point that she ran at him from the kitchen and I had to pull her off of him this morning (it was completely unprovoked, as he was laying at my feet in the living room, sleeping). I've had cats all my life, so am pretty well versed in normal cat behavior, but I did do quite a bit of research about pregnant cats as I've never been around them and didn't know what to expect. I have seen many mentions of cats becoming aggressive after birthing, but not much prior to birth. Is it possible that she is nearing labor, could that explain her behavior change?
I've set up a birthing box with lots of towels, and sprayed it down with catnip for good measure in her favorite hiding spot, the bottom shelf of our towel storage in the bathroom, and she has started laying in there. Currently, she and the boy cat are playing and chasing each other around the house, so it's not a *complete* change of behavior, it's just aggression towards the dog. I'm not sure what to do, we have not been rewarding aggressive behavior by trying to calm her down with petting and soothing voices, etc. We HAVE been trying to startle her to redirect her attention or use a spray bottle, which has been effective, up until the past couple of days. We haven't been physically touching her when she's mean towards the dog, except for this morning to pull her off. Putting her in another room isn't working, as she is a master escape artist (I seriously have no idea how she gets out of the bathroom!!). Any and all recommendations or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you so much in advance!
